I7™OHTSJUL ADVENTURE;

Tuapeka Times, Issue 1, 15 February 1868, Page 4

I7™OHTSJUL ADVENTURE ;

/ A STORY OV tIKE IS NKW ORT/EANB. r_ - ■■■ ft is now a num'bev oV years sii^ce the incidenf occurred which I am about to relate^ At 'the time I was employed as a reporter/ the "New Orlenns." My work w, * • .. t | ..»\o/'' Hero laborious as my life was dfeary. irwe^ .^ were eVenls -oonskntly oocurring j" .•jteAWrest J OT '.^ Sto become effect lasttng for hardly had T^^ \ interested in Khe *™**V n]^ roh fe erieß , »«wJo«ipply.«.JlW I snm d.l. in high asKi«inntion^ duels. JT combat, in the life, and scanflals in£ ? imAnfiM pohtica arena, a^.^ .^ % news .11 mßhmce wMph . took p i ne , r T" L in the great Southern city, nndof wK' 1 Wa9 the hfrG ai ° netl Bhall nl ver°r^" llier ' That dfiy WP hacl ' ver - v been paid all arrears of salary i jk. It. was a most extraordinary act on |i/part of onr employer. "We remained at /c office late, discussing the remarkable Recurrence, and wondering amongst ourselves how it was tliat the proprietor had performed such an act of generosity. A few suggested that he had received a legacy from some rich relation ; others supposed that he had been fortunate 'in the Cuba trade, or, in other words, in tlie exportation of negroes from Africa ; and one ventured to insinuate that he had become religions after reading a revival sern^i. But our perplexing speculations werelll cut short by " our devil," who Wormed us that the Jess's w ; fe had had twins'. Happy incident ! '^Ifty it take plice regularly every twelve xrionills!" was the prayer that arose on the lips of- all. At the period oi which Lam writing, nearly fifteen years, ago, New Orleans was not the safe city "th>t it is now,J;hanks •to ' (general Butler, who,, whatever :-niay have been •> his faults, is certainly entitlea 1 to the credit of having made life and property secure, Bobberies were of frequent, occurrence, murdera were continually^ b,eing\ committed wiffi| ■"impunity, and hardly a night passed but some desperatb assault took place. My lodgings being a considerable distance out of town, it was very often my cusfom'i'-pnrticu-larly when unusually late, 'to talie a short cut through a few of the baclTstreets, in .which I , was well known that some of th« (U-'-terate of our cih* rnn,}, ? r> , <me by eij: *■',•' ' ■ . , „ -. „, . ■ •-o "- ■ >;• • ' • . .iout -"..•„. ' .- < . jii, after t - „.. some of my friends who liveu'in a diffeVeiit'tJireetioh from myself," I left the main thoroughfare and plunged into tl'e little narrow, dirty streets of this district. The night was dark, and a dismal rain added anything but a cheerful aspect to the scene. "Bnt few of the deuiKens of the were

about, and those few, who were either (Standing at theit doors short pipes, or lounging at the windows, eyed vie with looks nf indifference. Tho knowledge, however, (hat I had settled up that day, and of the locality I was in, gave to my step a quick, clastic tread, and to the eye' that restless wandering which a_man al ways', evinces'wh'o is on the look-out for some imaginary foe. I had nearly escaped from the wry unpleasant neighborhood when 'my attention was attracted to an object: in white, which was haste*'*^ towards me with rapid, sfeps. Upon its Tir -ing me", I discovered it , „. figure '- \very beautiful' Creole — ii.-;- ' /m rich clusters over her j-^r .. : " '3, \i .: «ith an air of disorder- in '>i fi'-uance with her clothes, whicli hudthp appearance of having been flung on hastily. Tears were t flowing fabt from her 'eyes, andshe appeared to be in great distress. Onme she besought me to direct her to the nearest druggist's store, remarking that •her mother was dangerously ill and required medicine instnntly, and that, as she was. an entire stranger, And in a city in -n hich they had no acquaintance, she had been obliged to lenve the patient alone, hardly knowing whether she should find her alivtj upon her return* "Indeed," she said, her tears fallingfast, and her utterance choked with emotion, " poor, mother is dying now." v " You are placed in a very trying situa- ( tion," I remarked. "Ifitis in my power to ; serve you, it will really affoi*d me pleasure to do fio."

I "You Are very kind, sir," she Baid. '' Tell / me-of a drug "afore at once, or she may die / ere I reach itr N Oil ! that I could stay with her, or thai there Vaß anyone in the house only to remain there until I return !" / Carried away by this exhibition oif flic girl's distress, in a foolish moment I offered to return* with her to her residence and remain there, provided she would not be absent Ion;/. Upon accepting my proposal with m^ny expressions of gratitude, she infornie^^d that they occupied some rooms in <^^^^| adjoining the street ; , and upon m^^^^^f ing the fact of certain charact^^^^^^M there, who were well-lcnovrn^^^^^^^H stated atanoMV— t^^l^^^^^^H

placed in. One year's salary was in my noVK&ygnfl'l vifi in' a hous/in whicfi T knew rougJis "And vagabonds Raided. ftty tl'idrtg'its w/fe not allowed to gain ascehdarfe.V over my i-ars, for ' they had hardly time »6 'dart ll.ro'ugh my mind wften tl^ girl returned and siiitl — "My mother ir a little easier, sir. If you will step into fhi» room, and take a scat for a moment (pointing Tto the door of a chamber opposite), I will avail mysiolf of your kind I offer to remain wliilat I go to the druggist's. For a few moments it is hardly siiitable that >even one so kind as you elioiVld entei' the sick room." _ . Tlie soft arirVwimiing* manner in which »he nddressediiie completely difaimed Buspuion, und upon my consent ing, to her proposition «he drew a key from her p6cket, aiid opening (lie door invited me in. I had hardly passed the threshold, erb' it "was closed and' locked behind me-. The sudden fastening of the door caused me to pause, and turn my head round; rt was -fortunate I did so, for had I gone on one ftfOi rfijrthe'i' I should never liare. been able to-wtftk^ia tale. A struggling ray of riirionligftmoVed trie- that the'eehtre of the door had b'eei^cufc away, so that nothing but a narrow' iedg£ of abdtit six feet in width, which formed^ kind of shelf round the room, remained to Sitand upon." I tried to look down into the 4^'k abtss that seemed yawning for me, bifl|'aU was blackness tliere, what appeared tolbe' the feeble groans of some wounded rtjfi^^t the bo^om adding to the awfulnpss of "m^" position.- -" It must be some^ poor wretch' ivhom they have decdyfd hert>' lor purposes of plunder," I- thought, "who has met a fate evidently intended to be mm% aho." Then came that terrible longing fftrj life and liberty which, only those' have experienced' who ha-re tholight v tliat they were*' about to bo deprived of -both. 1 became wild' with anger at the dastardly trick that had been played upon me. In my rage I cursed the girl and; my own folly in listening to her story. 'My first impulse was to knock at the - door or to call -for assistance, but some reason the folly of such a step. To have made any noise would only be-to have roused the household, all of whom I purposed were aware of 'the trap set for me, £ind,w)ro would come rushing into 'my room, nhd; over- J coweWng me by numbers, would force me ' down tlie fatal pit. So I crduched up in the ,-xr side, against the wall, listening to the i dismal- moaning of the poor fellow below, and considering how soon my turn would come. It was sad, very sad, to think that I had to perish in such a manner, to be killed by the brute who kept the villanous establishment - —to quit tlie world when I was so young — to leave my -.mother and sisters withtfu't anyone to protect them, just at ft time whejA I was getting on in life, and able to provide for them comfortably; and then there jvas mother and a dearer one than all these, the recollection of whom made me^weep tears of bitter agpny^ Could it be possible that at a time when icy, -fondest Ho^'eftf.pf- earthly, happiness were about, being realised^ 'l must be torn fronnferTTloved so ' well, and that, too, by the hands of a base and cowardly_assassin ? No, it was too horrible to believe. ComV what may — if all the wretchcß from the purlieus of those densely-crowded courts came to hurl mo to death I would fight for freedom, tear them limb from limb ; brave everything for dear, dear life. How mad were these thoughts ! I was unariried, and hut a weak mail compared to the rufttuns that [ knew would do the fearful work. How frtng J remained in this agitated state I hardly know. It must have been some hours ; for lawn was just brenk'ing, the firut fnint stre«k of early morning light being visible over the house tops,' when I heard a heavy step .on the \ stairs, approaching nearer and nearer, and finally halting outside my prison door. " Mary," paid a rough voice, which ] instantly recognised so a •' Mary, why don't you bring the key ?" "Here it is," the .girl answered; "but mind what you , do, for he ain't fallen. I heard him move just now." . . „ "He won't move much after this i<t in ~ Vhim," was the reply, > and I heard" so'ijiethi na ring against the key which sounded lik'e^s^i, ;ind proved to be a bowie. knife. - AiiSnxS The girl lauched at this rejoiiM*rs"a.p:>y. ihterful laugh, that 'seemed to say "No one over did move much after, that wa'sin hjm " Then the key was softly turned "in the] 1 •e'k,-

.md the door slowly operted by a v tall, powerfil negro, who cautiously entered and .shut it after him (it being again fastened on the outside), and moved stealthily' towards where I sat, evidently 'thinking from the poijtion in which I was Crouching' (Vat I Was af tvp Then I saw the knife raised- to 's&'ijfe tli'e f.'ital blow, aitd darting <frum my recumbent position I sprang on my opponent w^th the fury* and swiftness pf a tige^J>ln^*hiß^BtoimlJ| ment, caused, bf my sudden aAtajjflH|H^| IkgbJ-aiM^^MMHfl^^^H

off these premises. If- you 'make the lpnst noise/ or attempt to call for assistance^ will .piling? \hih knife into you." ▼ 1 Without making any replyV; she moved tWartls the binding and then down '.the rleketty staircase. ; The front: door was bolted nnd barred, but. noWlenßly, she nhfastpiied U, and in another moment I stood a free mail. JJow glorfo'us it was once md're to breathe "tlie chill morning .^lir, even, in thnt pestilential neighborhood ! The rapidity with which I hastened awn"y # to the broad open streets may be better imagined than described.

I at once went to the nonrcst police-station, aiid^with the superintendent and six .men returned to the house in search' of the guilty womati.^ iSfia time the door soon gave wtiy, (t-b^i^^^Hed. Our' search for the ofCen^S^oTOd fruitless,, for not a liviig 'oVcaturo did we find in the. Ju>tts'e-r-tHey had all taken fli«*H., iTpon. place ia which' \ had been" confined,' we found thdt the flooring of the back rooms on each flight had been \ cut, through down as Jar as the basement, f> n which place we found two bprlies. > , , "An Irist sailor," said the superintendent ! of police c'oily, turning over dne of them, and looking for iraoney or^papers in his pockets, of which there\was" neltlrer upon the body. "And," he mntinued, looking at the other, "Black Jacqjes himself! What a pity! I wish he had jved to be hung!" Then addressing riie to said, " This nigger was the greatest sob'unlrel that ever lived. For months paßtwehave lonthinally missed people who have disappeaud inysterioiisly. Merqjianfp, lawyers," planttrs— persona who would be lively to have noney about thorn— each one lias been tracedUo this neighborhood when lojtV ' Ah 1 , dWr sir^ tarn glad you have h^tT this little a#enture, Fpr it has been the means of riddinl tho worlds of a monster, and of enabling v to discover the secret which we' have been endeavoring in vain for months to solve." , \ r. . I never liked xf* Orleans after that night, and soon afterwals left for Washington. Nothing was heard of the girl for nearly a year, and then she Was found' dying from a wound inflicted by.fi, bowie-knife in a low house in Mobile. "Before her death' ihe made a : full confession of Ihe career she had led with' "Black Jacqut," and furnished the police with a statemen with reference to th<> number of Tier victhttsWhich left little doubt but that those whose psence had not been accounted far had all bfen entrapped in their meshes and pemhed'bjihe'r hands.